This document provides an overview of key environmental concepts including: 1) It defines the environment as the sum of all living and non-living factors that compose the surroundings of man. 2) Environmental types are divided into the physical environment (atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere), biological environment (flora and fauna), and cultural environment (society, economy, politics). 3) The four main components that make up the physical environment are described as the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.

1. By
Dr. Kuldeep Bauddh
Assistant Professor, Department of
Environmental Sciences
Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi-835205
Environment: concept, types and components

2. Image source: https://www.earthreminder.com/importance-of-environmental-studies/

3. Global Environmental Issues
Image Source: https://seccionsociais.blogspot.com/2019/03/environmental-issues.html

4. Image source: S.O. Oyegoke, A.O. Adeyemi and A.O. Sojobi 2012. The Challenges of Water Supply for A Megacity: A Case Study of
Lagos Metropolis. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research (3). http://www.ijser.org

5. Image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/510454938989050163/
3Ps Concept of Sustainability

6. CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENT:
• The term ‘environment’ is derived from the French word ‘environ’ which
means ‘surround’/to be around.
• Environment is the sum total of all living and non-living factors that compose
the surroundings of man.
• Environmental studies deals with the sum of all social, economic, physical
and chemical interrelations with our surroundings.
Definition Of Environment :
• According to C.C. Park “Environment refers to the sum total of all the
conditions which surround man at a given space and time”.
• According to Douglas & Holland “The term environment is used to
describe, in aggregate, all the external forces, influences and conditions
which effect the life, nature, behavior and the growth, development and
maturity of living organisms’.

7. Fig. 1. Environmental science has an interdisciplinary character. All disciplines are relevant to the
identification and resolution of environmental issues. However, the work requires an
interdisciplinary approach that engages many disciplines in a coordinated manner. This
integration is suggested by the overlaps among the disciplinary fields
(Source: https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/environmentalscience/chapter/chapter-1/)

8. TYPES OF ENVIRONMENT:
On the basis of basic structure, the environment may be divided into:
Environment
Physical Environment
Biological
Environment
Cultural Environment
•Atmosphere
•Hydrosphere
•Lithosphere
•Biosphere
•Flora
•Fauna
•Microorganism
•Society
•Economy
•Politics

9. Four Environmental Segments:
• Atmosphere: the protective blanket of gases,
surrounding the earth
• Lithosphere: the outer mantle of the solid earth
• Hydrosphere: all the surface and ground water
• Biosphere: the region of earth where life exists

10. Major atmospheric regions:
Fig. Change in average atmospheric
temperature with altitude in the
standard atmosphere. This graph also
identifies the various named layers and
transition zones found in the
atmosphere. Image Copyright: Michael
Pidwirny.

11. Region Altitude range (km) Temperature range ( °C ) Important
chemical species
Troposphere 0-20 14 to - 56 Nitrogen, oxygen,
water vapour,
carbon dioxide
Stratosphere 20 - 50 -56 to -2 Ozone
Mesosphere 50 - 85 -2 to -92 Oxygen +, nitric
oxide, low level
O3
Thermosphere 85 - 500 - 92 to 1200 Oxygen +, nitric
oxide

12. Troposphere
Troposphere in the atmosphere is found from the surface to a height of between 8 to
16 kilometers (5.0 to 10.0 miles) of altitude [average height 11 kilometers (6.8
miles)]. The tropopause is typically at about 18 km near the Equator, and only about 8
km at the poles. Most of our planet’s weather occurs in this layer.
stratosphere
Above the troposphere, to an elevation of about 50 km, there is the stratosphere.
Here, atmospheric temperature increases because of the absorption of solar
ultraviolet radiation by ozone. The stratosphere is capped by the and the lies above
at about 50 to 80 km.
Mesosphere
In the mesosphere, temperatures decrease with height and have the coldest
temperatures in the atmosphere (about -90°C) at the upper boundary of this layer
(the ).
Thermosphere
The highest temperatures (>1000°C), are reached in the (85 km to the atmosphere’s
outermost fringe).
Source: LABORATORY 2: HEAT AND TEMPERATURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE – Physical Geography Lab Manual: The Atmosphere and
Biosphere (bccampus.ca)

13. Hydrosphere
A hydrosphere is the total amount of water on a planet. The hydrosphere includes water that
is on the surface of the planet, underground, and in the air. A planet's hydrosphere can
be liquid, vapor, or ice.
On Earth, liquid water exists on the surface in the form of oceans, lakes, and rivers. It also
exists below ground—as groundwater, in wells and aquifers. Water vapor is most visible
as clouds and fog. The frozen part of Earth's hydrosphere is made of ice: glaciers, ice
caps and icebergs. The frozen part of the hydrosphere has its own name, the cryosphere.
Water moves through the hydrosphere in a cycle. Water collects in clouds, then falls
to Earth in the form of rain or snow. This water collects in rivers, lakes and oceans. Then
it evaporates into the atmosphere to start the cycle all over again. This is called the water
cycle (https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/hydrosphere/)

14. Lithosphere
• Soil can be defined as the organic and inorganic materials on the surface of the earth
that provide the medium for plant growth, together support life on earth. Soils are the
products of weathering from some parent rocks.
• All soils initially come from some pre-existing rocks. They are called as ‘parent
materials’. The Parent Material may be directly below the soil, or at great distances
away from it.
Constituents of Soil
(i) Inorganic matter (rock particles)
(ii) Organic matter/humus (decayed plants and animal matter)..
(iii) Living organisms such as bacteria, worms, and insects
(iv) Water/moisture
(v) Air/gases

15. Biosphere:
The biosphere is the part of the earth where living things exist. It encompasses all
living things living in the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere.
Image source: https://www.uni-
heidelberg.de/fakultaeten/chemgeo/geow/researchgro
ups/keppler/
Image source:
https://briangrimmerblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/ima
ge.jpg

16. Relationship between environment and society

17. Ecosystem services:
Ecosystem services are the benefits people
obtain from ecosystems.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment divided
ecosystem services that benefit humans into four
classes:
1)Regulating
2) Provisioning
2) Cultural (non-material)
4) Supporting

18. Ecosystem Services

19. "The world has enough for everyone's
needs, but not everyone's greed,“
Mahatma Gandhi

20. Thank you